Jury picked in trial of ex-NYC union boss Norman Seabrook
Norman Seabrook, former president of the New York City Correction Officers' Benevolent Association, leaves a federal courthouse in Manhattan on the first day of jury selection in his trial on charges of bribery on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017. Credit: Charles Eckert
Opening statements in the bribery trial of former city prison-guard union boss Norman Seabrook are scheduled to begin on Tuesday after lawyers finished picking a jury of seven men and five women on Monday.
Seabrook, 57, longtime head of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, is charged with taking a $60,000 bribe to invest $20 million of the union’s pension money in the hedge fund Platinum Partners.
Prosecutors said Monday that their key witness, Jona Rechnitz, who was at the center of multiple city corruption scandals involving City Hall and the NYPD, may testify in the case as early as Wednesday.
Rechnitz, a real estate investor from Brooklyn, is expected to testify that he acted as an intermediary between Seabrook and his co-defendant, hedge fund official Murray Huberfeld, and delivered the $60,000 cash to the union boss in a Ferragamo bag.
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Wild weather on LI ... Deported LI bagel store manager speaks out ... Top holiday movies to see ... Visiting one of LI's best pizzerias ... Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV
